TIRANA – There is no such obligation as fulfillment of 15 conditions for Albania to start the accession negotiations with the European Union, has said Prime Minister Edi Rama.
In a comment on a statement by MEP Genoveva Ruiz Calavera on Monday Rama said on Tuesday whoever says that the 15 criteria must be carried out aims only at provoking fights with the Albanian government.
The Country of Eagles does not have to fulfill all 15 conditions for the EU talks to officially launch, Prime Minister Edi Rama reiterated on Tuesday as he referred to Genoveva Ruiz Calavera’s statement in EP. Ms. Calavera speaks on behalf of the European Commission, Rama said. “There are not 15 conditions and who repeats that song has only the political purpose of blind fighting with the government. Calavera speaks on behalf of the European Commission.”
“There are 15 conditions that Albania must meet before the decision to open the negotiations with the EU,” warned the rapporteur for Albania, David Lega in the special hearing held at the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on the situation in Albania on Monday. Lega noted that the government is very tough with journalists and very smooth with the traffickers. “There will be no negotiations unless this relationship is changed,” he said. The rapporteur stressed the need to toughen the fight against organized crime and drugs.
But the Director for Western Balkans Calavera said the EU has not set 15 conditions for Albania at the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee. Some of them must be completed while Albania advances in the European path and conditions will be discussed at the first intergovernmental conference, she noted.
Chairman of the Socialist Party (SP) parliamentary group Taulant Balla welcomed the discussions of most MEPs at the session of the European Parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee. “The EP’s focus and support for Albania should make us feel good because it shows the attention of EU institutions at such an important moment for Albania,” said SP’s number two./argumentum.al
